A Peony for Your Thoughts: What Wise Mothers want to share with you…

I want to share the beautiful and heartfelt comments I’ve received this past week — both here and privately – from readers weighing in with their wisdom about Motherhood.  I was very moved by the vulnerability and truthfulness of what some of you wrote.

The clearest insight from all of you that t I carry into this Mother’s Day weekend of lilacs and bursting garden paths is that while we mothers don’t always get it right, we never give up.  There is always a new idea, recipe, story, hope we can offer those we love.  The training in motherhood is that of learning to go deep, and going the distance, instead of turning away.

The other wonderful bit of wisdom from you is that even when motherhood seems a fading memory, if we can tend to our OWN stories, we discover doors of possibility opening to interior rooms just waiting for our return.

At a recent workshop, one woman told this story.

As a child and a teenager, she had loved to do crafting — sewing, stitchery, collage.  It was the air she breathed.  Crafting was her happy place, where she was in flow with her soul and the experience of being most alive.

Then it came time to grow up and GET SERIOUS.  She became a lawyer who specialized in family advocacy and the rights of abused women and children.  In her own words, she chose a career about as cerebral and intellectual as any on the planet.

Then her daughter was born.  She was in her late 30s, deep into her law practice.

“I went crazy,” she told the group.  “I started sewing all her clothes!  I threw myself into making costumes for school plays and church festivals.  I was shocked!  How could I have chosen a career so far removed from the things that I loved best?”

Now retired, she has re-opened these doors.  She goes on long walks with her camera, taking stunning images that she posts on Facebook and gives as gifts.  She makes altars from the profuse collection of natural objects she has collected over the years.  She is allowing the child who knew long ago who she was and what she was meant to do to awaken and lead the way.

The soul asks for room enough to fly, and when the time comes, it will do so, just as we mothers pray will happen as our children find their own sources of meaning and fulfillment.

My prayer for you on this Mother’s Day is that you promise yourself you will always welcome your soul, in whatever costume it shows up.  Go deep.  There is always a new story.